Radish
Introduction
There are many more radish varieties that the peppery salad types sold in the shops. The biggest distinction is between fast growing summer types, and the larger hardier winter types that make great ingredients for stir fries and winter casseroles. It is possible to harvest radish from April to December by growing a range of different types.
Radish is very easy to grow and is an excellent crop for a novice gardener to start with, whether in containers on a patio or in a vegetable bed, and they are great for making good use of spare space.
Planting
- Planting depth: 1 cm or half an inch deep
- Space seeds 1 cm apart
- Rows spaced 15 cm apart
Harvesting
- Sow a few seeds every two weeks to enjoy radish throughout spring, summer, and autumn
- Winter radish is sown midsummer and will provide a harvest up to the end of December (leave in the ground and pick as required)
- Mark winter radish rows with canes or poles to easily find them in winter
(inside)
(outside)
(fresh)
(stored)
= jar, 
= freeze, = store
Varieties
There are many more radish varieties that the peppery salad types sold in the shops. The biggest distinction is between fast growing summer types and the larger hardier winter types. It is possible to harvest radish from April to December by growing a range of different types. Radish is very easy to grow and is an excellent crop for a novice gardener to start with, whether in containers on a patio or in a vegetable bed.
Summer radish types provide a delicious peppery flavour to salad and are one of the quickest growing crops. They are typically smaller than winter types, and come in a range of skin colours with white flesh.
Winter radish varieties are larger than summer types and take twice as long to reach maturity than summer varieties. Whilst called winter radish, they can be sown in the spring just like summer varieties and picked as required. The reason they are called winter radish is for their hardiness. Mid-year sowings will be ready at the end of summer, but rather than picking straight away, they can be left in the ground and harvested when needed, right up to the end of the year.
The easy way for a gardener to organise their growing and discover gardening ideas.
Growing
The time from sowing summer radish seeds to picking can be as little as four to six weeks. The seeds are sown once the weather starts to warm the soil in the spring, up until the end of August. Sowing a little seed every two weeks will provide a succession of harvests over the summer months. The seedlings should be thinned to a spacing of about 5 – 7 centimetres, or 2 -3 inches.
Winter radish varieties take about eight to ten weeks to reach maturity. They grow larger than summer types and require more room to grow, spaced about 15 – 20 centimetres apart, or 6 -8 inches.
Summer radish types make good row markers for slow germinating crops like onions and parsnips. The seeds can be sown in the same rows, but radish seeds will germinate faster. By the time the radish is picked, the onions or parsnips should be coming through.
For a tasty crop of radishes (all types), the seedlings should be regularly watered to keep the soil moist. If they experience periods of drought the flesh may become woody, which spoils their flavour.